There was no immediate word on whether he will have surgery, but the injury is not believed to be as serious as it might have been.He is expected to be out for a period measured in weeks, not months. Gonchar was injured when he was checked into the boards by Tampa Bay winger David Koci during an exhibition game at Mellon Arena last Saturday.

Sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Surgery would have had him out for most of the season. He's a big loss, but they've got the depth to get by without him in the early part of the regular season. Better these injuries coming now than later.

meecrofilm wrote:LeGame looked solid in all facets of play tonight. would've liked to see the point shot used a little more, but it seems that Geno will be the one cranking it from that area for the time being.

Honestly, it's a tough call for Sydor over Gogo. Gogo is more or less there, and Sydor has the experience, but also looked pretty darn slow tonight.

Please, Therrien .. get Malkin OFF the point .. !!!

Doesn't Therrien remember his own stupidity when he and Yeo put Malkin on the point in the Playoffs a few months ago .. ??!!For cryin' in a bucket .. please .. don't repeat this same **** .. WTF??!!

Malkin needs to be able to roam freely down low in the attacking zone on the powerplay. By putting him on the point, he is then forced to worry about staying within a relatively limited area of the ice in order to "cover the point". Why limit such a world class forward to a particular area of the ice .. especially when that portion of the ice is not near the net? It makes absolutely no sense, and it is repeating the insult that Malkin had to endure in the Playoffs only a few months ago. So, yeah .. let's deliberately repeat this same stupid nonsense and insult Geno again. That's just really intelligent.

Just give Goligoski and Letang the opportunity. They will do just fine.

Id say Malkin was at his most effective on the PP when on the right point and just dropped in about 10 feet or so. Malkin may be more effective when he can roam, but he also has the most dangerous one time slap shot on the team from there, and they have Crosby to chase. If Crosby had that shot, he'd be the one up there, but thats not the case.

meecrofilm wrote:LeGame looked solid in all facets of play tonight. would've liked to see the point shot used a little more, but it seems that Geno will be the one cranking it from that area for the time being.

Honestly, it's a tough call for Sydor over Gogo. Gogo is more or less there, and Sydor has the experience, but also looked pretty darn slow tonight.

Please, Therrien .. get Malkin OFF the point .. !!!

Doesn't Therrien remember his own stupidity when he and Yeo put Malkin on the point in the Playoffs a few months ago .. ??!!For cryin' in a bucket .. please .. don't repeat this same **** .. WTF??!!

Malkin needs to be able to roam freely down low in the attacking zone on the powerplay. By putting him on the point, he is then forced to worry about staying within a relatively limited area of the ice in order to "cover the point". Why limit such a world class forward to a particular area of the ice .. especially when that portion of the ice is not near the net? It makes absolutely no sense, and it is repeating the insult that Malkin had to endure in the Playoffs only a few months ago. So, yeah .. let's deliberately repeat this same stupid nonsense and insult Geno again. That's just really intelligent.

Just give Goligoski and Letang the opportunity. They will do just fine.

Yes, move Malkin off the point. The Penguins power play was only 4th in the NHL last season. It's obvious that Malkin on the point was holding the Penguins PP back last season. And if you put Malkin in front of the net, you put him in the way of injury. Do you really want Malkin trying to redirect Gonchar's blasts when he returns? I don't. That's why the Pens will use Staal and Fedotenko there, among others. Malkin's shot is a weapon. It would be wasted if he was moved from the point. Malkin might not like it, but if his presence on the point makes the Pens PP better (and it does), that's how it's going to be. In regards to confining a player to a particular part of the ice, that is a bad argument. Ovechkin plays the point in Washington. He seemed to succeed from that position last year.

malkin's at his best 1-timing shots from the point area. he came off the wall and formed an umbrella with gonch middle blue line, whitney down the left wall and malkin on the right. but when crosby came back it got a little congested. but i think it should be able to work. staal in front, work it through crosby low right wall. he can look for whit(other defenseman) for that backdoor 2 years ago pass, or for staal, or for gonchar. if he gets into trouble he gives it to malkin who heads toward gonchar, then backskates a few feet waiting for gonchar's one touch pass back. there are enough options here and this should be able to work when everyone's healthy. though i know this formation DIDN'T work that well last year. i think it was because malkin wanted to get it back to crosby too often. if crosby doesn't have the backdoor pass to whitney or staal along the goalline or an opportunity to drive, just resign to a gonchar or malkin slapshot with staal in front. high percentage right there. it's not as pretty as some of the movement of other teams, but it doesn't need to be with those two shots.

now with the injuries, i don't know. but i wouldn't say malkin was on the point when the pp was at it's best. just his goals came from that area after drifting off the wall.

There was no immediate word on whether he will have surgery, but the injury is not believed to be as serious as it might have been.He is expected to be out for a period measured in weeks, not months. Gonchar was injured when he was checked into the boards by Tampa Bay winger David Koci during an exhibition game at Mellon Arena last Saturday.

Sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Surgery would have had him out for most of the season. He's a big loss, but they've got the depth to get by without him in the early part of the regular season. Better these injuries coming now than later.

meecrofilm wrote:LeGame looked solid in all facets of play tonight. would've liked to see the point shot used a little more, but it seems that Geno will be the one cranking it from that area for the time being.

Honestly, it's a tough call for Sydor over Gogo. Gogo is more or less there, and Sydor has the experience, but also looked pretty darn slow tonight.

Please, Therrien .. get Malkin OFF the point .. !!!

Doesn't Therrien remember his own stupidity when he and Yeo put Malkin on the point in the Playoffs a few months ago .. ??!!For cryin' in a bucket .. please .. don't repeat this same **** .. WTF??!!

Malkin needs to be able to roam freely down low in the attacking zone on the powerplay. By putting him on the point, he is then forced to worry about staying within a relatively limited area of the ice in order to "cover the point". Why limit such a world class forward to a particular area of the ice .. especially when that portion of the ice is not near the net? It makes absolutely no sense, and it is repeating the insult that Malkin had to endure in the Playoffs only a few months ago. So, yeah .. let's deliberately repeat this same stupid nonsense and insult Geno again. That's just really intelligent.

Just give Goligoski and Letang the opportunity. They will do just fine.

our power play was extremely effective in the playoffs, even against detroit. malkin playing point works. it's better than having both him and sid trip over eachother down low. much better.

Generally, the athlete who wishes to return to a contact sport should expect to be out of action for 6 to 12 weeks. Again, the time to return to full activity depends on the dedication toward your rehabilitation program.

Could you imagine if we lost Sarge and Whit at the start of last season though.

meecrofilm wrote:LeGame looked solid in all facets of play tonight. would've liked to see the point shot used a little more, but it seems that Geno will be the one cranking it from that area for the time being.

Honestly, it's a tough call for Sydor over Gogo. Gogo is more or less there, and Sydor has the experience, but also looked pretty darn slow tonight.

Please, Therrien .. get Malkin OFF the point .. !!!

Doesn't Therrien remember his own stupidity when he and Yeo put Malkin on the point in the Playoffs a few months ago .. ??!!For cryin' in a bucket .. please .. don't repeat this same **** .. WTF??!!

Malkin needs to be able to roam freely down low in the attacking zone on the powerplay. By putting him on the point, he is then forced to worry about staying within a relatively limited area of the ice in order to "cover the point". Why limit such a world class forward to a particular area of the ice .. especially when that portion of the ice is not near the net? It makes absolutely no sense, and it is repeating the insult that Malkin had to endure in the Playoffs only a few months ago. So, yeah .. let's deliberately repeat this same stupid nonsense and insult Geno again. That's just really intelligent.

Just give Goligoski and Letang the opportunity. They will do just fine.

So Goligoski inherently knows how to run an NHL powerplay? Apparently you are one of the "I must find fault with MT with everything that goes on" people (it's preseason and you've already gone off about Pesonen not being given the first line spot b/c MT hates him and now Malkin playing the point when we lost our two best options). I've noted it so I don't waste my time any more talking sense to someone who refuses to acknowledge logic.

meecrofilm wrote:LeGame looked solid in all facets of play tonight. would've liked to see the point shot used a little more, but it seems that Geno will be the one cranking it from that area for the time being.

Honestly, it's a tough call for Sydor over Gogo. Gogo is more or less there, and Sydor has the experience, but also looked pretty darn slow tonight.

Please, Therrien .. get Malkin OFF the point .. !!!

Doesn't Therrien remember his own stupidity when he and Yeo put Malkin on the point in the Playoffs a few months ago .. ??!!For cryin' in a bucket .. please .. don't repeat this same **** .. WTF??!!

Malkin needs to be able to roam freely down low in the attacking zone on the powerplay. By putting him on the point, he is then forced to worry about staying within a relatively limited area of the ice in order to "cover the point". Why limit such a world class forward to a particular area of the ice .. especially when that portion of the ice is not near the net? It makes absolutely no sense, and it is repeating the insult that Malkin had to endure in the Playoffs only a few months ago. So, yeah .. let's deliberately repeat this same stupid nonsense and insult Geno again. That's just really intelligent.

Just give Goligoski and Letang the opportunity. They will do just fine.

Malkin blasting pucks to the net from the right point and allowing Staal and Satan to bang home rebounds is just as effective, if not, more so, as opposed to Malkin playing down low in the zone around the net.

It would suck for him to miss the majority of the RS, but I'm almost hoping they do opt for surgery just because you know you'll have him for the playoffs. The worst thing that can happen is he comes back in the earlier time frame, re-injures his shoulder, and is forced to have season-ending surgery. Remember how much time Melichar missed with shoulder problems before he finally went and had the surgery?

They'll miss Gonchar in the regular season too, but playoffs are what is important, and I don't think going without him is the ultimate difference maker between making and not making the playoffs. Let's be honest, Gonchar gets the majority of his points on the PP. I have every reason to believe the Pens will have a great PP even without him - look how well they've done this preseason. The times they've gone without him in recent seasons were small, insignificant sample sizes. I know Gonchar has improved a lot on the defensive end, but when you're going to miss his D more than anything, you're probably not that bad off. I don't mean to say that Gonchar isn't an important player, but the PP will get by without him because there's so much offensive talent on this team.

Henry Hank wrote:They'll miss Gonchar in the regular season too, but playoffs are what is important, and I don't think going without him is the ultimate difference maker between making and not making the playoffs. Let's be honest, Gonchar gets the majority of his points on the PP. I have every reason to believe the Pens will have a great PP even without him - look how well they've done this preseason.

The power play will obviously be very interesting to watch w/o Gonchar. There has been lively debate regarding the importance of Gonchar on the PP. Some think he mooched off of the talents of crosby/malkin and others think he was the straw that stirred the drink. I tend to lean on the latter assesment than the former. Obviously the pens have the talent to overcome the lack of gonchar, but it will be interesting to see how long the adjustment to life w/o 55 will take.

This little snippet was at the end of the article today about the "other" sports the Pens played when they were young:

Defenseman Sergei Gonchar will see another doctor Monday about his dislocated left shoulder because the two he has seen are split on whether he needs surgery. "I want to get as much information as I can before making a decision," said Gonchar, who was hurt Saturday early in the team's first preseason game and is out indefinitely.

This is the first I've actually read where it's said that any doctor was recommending surgery. Not sure if this is 100% correct, but all of the others said he was rehabbing and seeing how that progressed before any decision. This says a doctor is telling him that he should have surgery based on his examination, not that he should wait and see.

If he has surgery, he is basically done for the year. We learned last season just how important he is not only to the PP but as the top pair's anchor. What is also not known is what affect this will have on Orpik after he jelled so well with Sarge late in the year. One would hope that Brooks has just figured out how to play his spot and can focus on that alone, but that pair was really solid.

After how the team rallied despite all the injuries last season, I feel like it can be done again this season. If Gonchar comes back quickly, great. If not, we still have a more than formidable team to continue to compete without him and Whits. Not many teams can boast about having 8-9 legitimate NHL dmen on their roster and we are blessed with that.

On a side note, with Gonch and Whitney out, to atleast start the season, is it just me or does this team resemble the Carolina Hurricanes team that won the Cup a couple years back? I mean, we don't have those veteran players they did during that Cup run. But they had a high octane offense with a bunch of defensive dmen, and a couple 2 way dmen. I don't know, this defensive corp we have now just kind of reminds me of CAR defensive group from 05-06.

Henry Hank wrote:They'll miss Gonchar in the regular season too, but playoffs are what is important, and I don't think going without him is the ultimate difference maker between making and not making the playoffs. Let's be honest, Gonchar gets the majority of his points on the PP. I have every reason to believe the Pens will have a great PP even without him - look how well they've done this preseason.

The power play will obviously be very interesting to watch w/o Gonchar. There has been lively debate regarding the importance of Gonchar on the PP. Some think he mooched off of the talents of crosby/malkin and others think he was the straw that stirred the drink. I tend to lean on the latter assesment than the former. Obviously the pens have the talent to overcome the lack of gonchar, but it will be interesting to see how long the adjustment to life w/o 55 will take.

He's very conservative on the point. I see his dman replacement as the same; prolly not the same shot, but in terms of patrolling the points and dishing, I don't see much loss.

Again, silver lining is that he wont' be carrying the puck up and dumping/chasing/retreating. Pens will be in the ozone much more.